Contemporary motor vehicles usually are fitted with glass windows. Many of these windows, such as at least some of the side windows and sometimes even the rear window, can be selectively lowered to permit the entry of outside air. In most vehicle doors, these windows can be lowered, partially or all the way, into a hollow space in the door beneath the windows proper, and are raised to a closed condition by entering into a channel formed in the top of the vehicle door.
Automotive aftermarket suppliers have devised wind deflectors that permit e.g. a side window to be lowered by a small amount, permitting ventilation of the interior, but which still keep most or all of the rain out of the car interior, and which also deflect most of the wind passing by the car. One successful wind deflector is manufactured by the German Company ClimAir. This deflector is manufactured of a hard, machineable, transparent and paintable plastic such as acrylic. It has a relatively thin, machined peripheral flange at its top and side margins which slides or installs into the door channel in a position outboard of the door glass, providing a superior fit and means of attachment.
Many vehicle designs, however, have their vehicle door windows partitioned into a first pane which lowers into the door and a second pane which remains stationary. These panes are separated by a substantially vertical pillar that extends from the lower window margin upward and into the top window channel. The aforementioned in-channel deflector design does not allow the deflector to span the entire length (in a fore and aft direction) of a window utilizing a multi-pane design. To provide wind and rain deflectors for such a vehicle, the supplier either has to ignore the second pane of the window or provide a deflector for each pane. A need has therefore arisen to provide for a snap-in deflector which can span multiple-paned vehicle windows.